Afghan Woman Brutally Lynched By Mob In Kabul For 'Burning Koran'

A mob of men begin lynching an Afghan woman in the capital Kabul.

An Afghan woman was brutally beaten to death and then burned by a bloodthirsty crowd made up almost entirely of men in Kabul last Thursday. Gruesome footage has emerged of the mob lynching 27-year-old Farkhunda who was accused of burning a Koran near a mosque. The attack has triggered a wave of indignation throughout the country.

Her slow death lasted nearly two hours. Farkhunda's horrific ordeal started in a mosque located in a heavily populated area of the capital: key government buildings including the presidential palace and the interior ministry lie nearby in a heavily secured area. The city's chief of police insists that officers arrived after she was killed. Yet videos taken at the scene appear to contradict his version of events. In one, policemen stand by while groups of men continue beating her. It's only after the arrival of reinforcements then that they finally begin dispersing the mob. According to the country's interior minister, four people suspected of having taken part in the murder have been arrested. One even claimed responsibility for the act and congratulated himself on his Facebook page.

There are no videos that show precisely how the young woman ended up at the hands of the vicious mob. But the grotesque lynching that followed was filmed by several people. Given the violent nature of the images, France 24 has decided only to publish screenshots taken from the video. In one such clip, the 27-year-old can be seen lying on her stomach while men mercilessly pelt her with wooden sticks and large stones. Yet even after a few minutes, Farkhunda is still alive. In another video - filmed moments later - her body is burnt on the banks of the river the cuts across the capital. This time, an even bigger crowd watches the macabre sight of a young woman being literally reduced to ashes."

Farkhundah after having been beaten by the mob.

Local media outlets and social media networks reported that the woman had burned a Koran. Yet Afghanistan's Religious Affairs Minister dismissed the story, citing a lack of evidence. Her parents at first claimed that Farkhunda had been suffering from a mental disorder and had sought help from local worshippers at the mosque. But they later backpedalled, claiming that they came up with the story in order to "protect her".

Mariam Abou Zahab, a specialist of Afghanistan and Pakistan, says she doesn't recall any other cases of women being publically lynched and burned in the country. She explains that in neighbouring Pakistan,  men accused of insulting Islam have been lynched by uncontrollable mobs. On many occasions, the accusations turned out to be false and were simple cases of score-settling.

"I was completely devastated by this lynching "

Blogger and feminist Omin Haqbin says he was completely shocked by the spectacle of the young woman being beaten to death.

 

 

This lynching was completely devastating to see. My friends and I have been in a state of shock for over a day. Some of us even cried. We've been asking ourselves how things could have come to this point. What worries me the most is that many people justify the lynching. Not really those on Facebook: most of them have been showing their solidarity with Farkhunda. They've published messages on their walls or posted photos that say "I am Farkhunda". But the ones who justify the gruesome attack are people in the street: ordinary people; those I spoke with this morning; uneducated people who don't have access to Facebook. I think continuous wars in Afghanistan have given rise to this kind of mentality. They grew up during times of war. All they know is violence.